A system-in-a-package (SiP) is a module package that contains a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips and/or other circuit components (e.g., transistors, capacitors, indictors and resistors) that are mounted on a system printed circuit board (PCB), which is also part of the SiP module package. Such module packages are commonly used in wireless devices, such as smart phones, for example. The module package typically includes a system epoxy molding compound (EMC) that encapsulates the IC chips and other circuit components. The module package typically also includes a system EMI shield for reducing EMI emission from the module package. The system EMI shield is typically a conformal EMI shield formed on the module package by using, for example, a metal sputtering process to form a metal coating that conforms to the outer surface of the system EMC.
While the system EMI shield is effective at reducing EMI emissions from the module package as a whole, it has no effect on EMI emissions within the module package. Some of the ICs and other circuit components contained within the module package comprise radio frequency (RF) functional blocks. These RF functional blocks emit EMI that can interfere with the operations of other RF functional blocks within the module package. For example, one of the IC chips of one of the RF functional blocks may be a multi-band power amplifier (PA) chip supporting different modes of operation (e.g., Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Global System for Communication (GSM)/Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE)). Another of the IC chips of another of the RF functional blocks may be, for example, a multi-band low noise amplifier (LNA) chip capable of supporting different modes of operation.
Without suitable EMI shielding of these RF functional blocks from one another, EMI emitted from one RF functional block may detrimentally impact the operations of another RF functional block. One known EMI shielding solution that is used for this purpose is an electrically-conductive metal “can” that is placed over an RF functional block to reduce EMI emissions from the RF functional block. However, current trends to reduce the sizes of SiPs and/or to increase the amounts or types of functionality that are included in them have made the use of electrically-conductive metal cans impractical due to their size and due to space constraints of environments in which the SiPs are used (e.g., smart phones).
Accordingly, a need exists for a compartment EMI shielding solution that is effective at providing EMI shielding within a module package and that is efficient in terms of space utilization and costs.